One of the sad realities of the world is that large and powerful nations require an enemy to maintain their systems. There are long-winded economic and political explanations for this, but in short it comes down to fear being an incredible motivator both for production and control. We need an enemy because that’s what motivates the development of new technology, industrial production and also because it’s what leads us to depend on the government even at a cost to our own civil liberties. I don’t think it has to be this way, but a review of the last 100 years of history has shown it to be a reliable trend.
Over that 100 years the English speaking world (and her allies de jour) have had 3 major enemies. In the first half of the 20th century the Germans played the role of the bad guy, from the Kaiser to the Fuhrer we didn’t trust the Germans. The villains in movies all spoke with a German accent even Donald Duck played a Nazi. After the second world war, when Germany was no longer a reliable enemy, we picked a former ally as the new bad guy and declared Moscow’s Kremlin to be Enemy HQ. While we did get to retain a few of our German propaganda stereotypes thanks to East Germany, the primary antagonist in our story was now the Red Menace of the Soviet Union. I have to confess; even though this stereotype cooled (perhaps not entirely) with the breakup of the Soviet Union the year I turned 9, it’s impact was strong enough to send a chill up my spine the first time I stood in Red Square nearly 20 years later. However, like Germany before her, Mother Russia was no longer the motivator of fear the Western Empire needed by the end of 1991.
Enter Fundamentalist Islam.
Just as the Soviets were waiting in the wings to take Germany’s place, there was a new villain on stage as Comrade Gorbachev took the final bow for the Soviet Union. This villain was different from the previous two actors to play the role in a few significant ways. First of all the new enemy was not limited by geography. Second, this enemy is defined by a religious understanding and not an ideological one.
Please let me make something clear now – I understand that the majority of Muslims condemn acts of terrorism and do not want to associate them with these acts.
Despite the broad views of some, many in the West view Islam as the enemy of our values and way of life. This misrepresentation has been advanced in the public eye through terrorist acts like those of 11 September 2001 in the United States, 11 March 2004 in Spain, 7 July 2005 in the United Kingdom and others leading up to last week here in Canada. Due to the politicized nature of such attacks, the shared religion of the attackers and the claims of responsibility from fundamentalist and terrorist organizations, it has been easy to paint a picture of Islam as the enemy.
But that picture is nothing more than a badly done photoshop.
Because the truth is that Islam is not our enemy. Sure you can find people who quote a passage here and there from the Quran and suggest that their faith promotes violence. Well guess what? The Christian Bible contains the following gems “Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” and “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbour” So maybe before we get too up in arms about a few of their verses we can understand that there are parts of our own sacred text that send a terrible message when portrayed out of context as the teachings of our faith.
Beyond doing some study study and finding out that the Quran explicitly prohibits the taking of a life and considers neither the Christian nor the Jew to be an infidel; I have come to be friends with many Muslims. I lived in a majority muslim country from 2008-2011, and both over there and here at home I have come to know many great people of this faith. I have friends who are Sunni and friends who are Shia. I have friends from North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and some who were born right here in Canada. I have friends who are devoutly religious and others who are quite secular. I work with Muslims, I eat with Muslims and on occasion I even pray with Muslims. If there is one message I have heard loud and clear from every single Muslim I have ever met, it is this:
Those who commit violent crimes in the name of Islam are like Satan.
The real enemy, since our society still seems to think it needs one, is not Islam. The real enemy is fundamentalism, of any stripe. Because when people come to the place where there is no room for an alternate understanding, where people who disagree or question are seen as the enemies of God and where violence is justified in dealing with those enemies they will always be a threat to others. We cannot allow our society to fall further into the trap of Islamophobia. They are not our enemy. One thing Christians share with Muslims is the belief that there is only one God, therefore logic must dictate that we are both his creation, his children. Sure we have different understandings of God, and there is a place for respectfully discussing them and learning from one another. But we must remember that we are one. One flesh, one blood. My biggest fear with this renewed threat of terrorist activity is not my own safety or security, it is that my good friends of the Islamic faith will once again be subject to terrible prejudice.
We cannot let fear of the other overtake love for our brother.
I have other sheep that are not of this fold. – Jesus
Kingdom Dialogues 